500 
Rachel Carson wrote about ocean disposal of radioactive waste in 1960 
(The Sea Around Us, preface to revised edition, pages X and XII): 
"By its very vastness and its seeming remoteness, the sea 
has invited the attention of those who have the problem 
of disposal." 
"The truth is that disposal has proceeded far more rapidly f 
than our knowledge justifies. To dispose first and inves- 
tigate later is an invitation to disaster, for once radio- 
active elements have been deposited at sea, they are irre- 
trievable. The mistakes that are made now are made for all $ 
time." 
The Reagan Administration is now moving toward a resumption of ocean 
disposal of radioactive wastes on at least four fronts: 
1. As announced in the Federal Register, Volume 47, Number 9, pages 
2151-2152, the United States Navy is considering sinking over 100 decom- 
missioned nuclear submarines over the next thirty years. According to the 
January 22, 1982 issue of Science (page 377) new evidence has come to light 
over the past few years which indicates that reactor components contain 
significant quantities of nickel-59, a radioisotope with a half-life of 
80,000 years, and niobium-94 which has a half-life of 20,000 years. It is 
unlikely that the long-term health consequences of the submarine disposal 
can be predicted with any degree of certainty. 
2. The Department of Energy is reportedly (Science, March 5, 1982, 
page 1217) looking to the oceans to dispose of thousands of tons of radio- 
active soil from nuclear weapons facilities. 
3. The Department of Energy has announced (Federal Register Volume 
46, Number 93, pages 26677-26678) plans to develop the option of seabed 
disposal of high level radioactive wastes as a "longer-term supplementary 
disposal method." 
